Today, the Riigikogu continued deliberation of energy saving as a matter of significant national importance. Chairman of the Economic Affairs Committee Kaja Kallas made a report.
In Kaja Kallas’ view, there is no positive news in the global development as regards the dropping of the prices of different energy carriers. This has led to the idea of saving of energy as an asset. In Kallas’ words, energy saving is important because the competitiveness of the economy and enterprises is directly dependent on that. “Spending less energy for producing products and providing services increases the opportunities of such enterprises to compete with other similar products and services in the world,” said Kallas. The Chairman of the Economic Affairs Committee also stressed the aspect of environment friendliness which as a rule goes together with energy saving because energy production and use are relatively harmful for the environment. Kallas explained that “energy” means electric energy, heat energy as well as the fuels needed for transport and within the context of energy saving it is important to view them as a whole. Kallas gave an overview of the discussions in the Economic Affairs Committee which had been held with the participation of relevant experts from the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications, the Faculty of Power Engineering of Tallinn University of Technology, PLC Eesti Energia, PLC Elering, Kredex and Energiasalv Ltd. Opinions concerning opportunities to save energy in many energy areas as well as to store energy had been heard. In Kallas’ words, the discussions revealed that the people’s awareness of their energy consumption is very low. “It is impossible to save if you do not know how much you actually spend. To begin with, awareness should be raised,” stressed Kallas. It must also be kept in mind that energy saving in one sphere as a rule results in an increase of energy need in another sphere. In Kallas’ opinion, this has a meaning as a whole because energy can be used more efficiently in a whole and this brings along saving in total energy consumption as well as in financial dimension. Kallas pointed out by spheres, what can be done in the sphere of energy saving. She discussed at length opportunities to raise people’s awareness, energy saving in heat energy, saving opportunities in electric power generation, as well as energy use in transport, also bringing out the main recommendations for increasing energy saving.
Comments were presented by Members of the Riigikogu Rainer Vakra, Toomas Tõniste, Urve Palo, Margus Hanson and Kalle Palling.
On the motion of the Legal Affairs Committee, the first reading of
the Bill on Amendments to the Commercial Code and Other Associated Acts (
9 SE), initiated by the Government, was concluded. The main purpose of the Bill is to transpose into Estonian law the directive of the European Parliament and of the Council, amending the so-called Capital Requirements Directive, Merger Directive, Divisions Directive and Cross-Border Mergers Directive. The purpose of the directive is to help enhance the competitiveness of the European Union by reducing the administrative burden arising from the European company law directives. Amendments to the mergers and divisions directive involve reduction of reporting requirements for companies, including in the case of a merger between a parent company and its subsidiary, and updating of information requirements. The same amendments also concern the Cross-Border Mergers Directive. Amendments to the Capital Requirements Directive enable Member States to reduce reporting requirements upon the formation of a public limited liability company and an increase in subscribed capital if these occur in the context of the merger or the division. The Bill also provides amendments to the Investment Funds Act, the Insurance Activities Act, the Credit Institutions Act, the Paying Authorities and Electronic Money Institutions Act and the Securities Market Act. The Bill was sent to the second reading.
For more details, read the verbatim record of the sitting (in Estonian):
The Riigikogu Press Service